Written Answers Tuesday 31 May 2005

Scottish Executive

Agriculture

Eleanor Scott (Highlands and Islands) (Green): To ask the Scottish Executive what the average size of farm holdings has been in each of the last 10 years.

Ross Finnie: The information requested is provided in the following table. It is derived from the June Agricultural Census returns.

  

Year
Average Holding Size


 1995
109.9 


 1996
110.3 


 1997
110.2 


 1998
110.7 


 1999
110.6 


 2000
111.0 


 2001
110.9 


 2002
110.4 


 2003
109.7 


 2004
108.7 



  *Note: Figures are given in hectares and cover main and minor holdings, but do not include common grazings.

Agriculture

Eleanor Scott (Highlands and Islands) (Green): To ask the Scottish Executive how much fertiliser, pesticides, herbicides and other chemical farm inputs was used and how much, and what value, was imported from overseas in the most recent year for which figures are available.

Ross Finnie: The estimated* number of tonnes and monetary values of fertiliser and lime used as inputs on Scottish farms, for 2004, are shown in the following table. For herbicides and other pesticides, only the values of the utilised inputs are illustrated, as tonnage figures are not known. No data exist for imports of chemical farm inputs.

  Table – Tonnage and Monetary Value of Chemical Farm Inputs used on Scottish Farms in 2004

  

Input
Number of Tonnes Utilised
Total Value(£ Million)


Fertiliser
355,000
121.9


Lime
265,000
6.3


Fertiliser and Lime
620,000
128.3


Herbicides
-
21.6


All other pesticides
-
25.4



  Sources: Agricultural Census; SAC; British Survey of Fertiliser Practice.

  Notes:

  *The figures shown in the table are estimates. The Environment and Rural Affairs Department obtains rates of farm chemical usage (on a per hectare basis) and prices from the Scottish Agricultural College (SAC). Usage rates are also obtained from the British Survey of Fertiliser Practice. These rates and prices are then applied to the census areas of agricultural land. Therefore, it must be stressed that the tonnage and value figures outlined are derived using bottom-up calculations. They are, however, consistent with the aggregate agricultural accounts published each year in the Economic Report on Scottish Agriculture (ERSA).

Cancer

Sarah Boyack (Edinburgh Central) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it is concerned about the increase in many childhood cancers, as recorded in Childhood Cancer in Scotland 1975-1999, published by the Information and Statistics Division of NHS Scotland.

Mr Andy Kerr: Concerns about the increased incidence of cancer and the needs of those who suffer from it make cancer one of the top priorities for the Scottish Executive and for NHSScotland. Cancer in Scotland , the Scottish cancer strategy, was put in place to tackle the issues raised across a broad front, through primary prevention, earlier detection and more rapid diagnosis and treatment.

  There are some 120 children diagnosed with cancer each year which accounts for less than 1% of all cancers in Scotland. This figure remained fairly constant from 1975–99.

  Deaths from cancers in children have decreased such that between 1975 and 1999 five year survival increased from 50% to 76%.

Cancer

Sarah Boyack (Edinburgh Central) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what research is on-going into childhood cancer incidence in Scotland.

Mr Andy Kerr: Full information on current research into childhood cancer incidence in Scotland is not held centrally.

  Information on some current and recently completed research projects can be found on the National Research Register (NRR) at http://www.nrr.nhs.uk/ The International Cancer Research Portfolio (ICRP) database of international cancer research can be accessed at: http://www.ncri.org.uk/includes/icrp.htm.

Cancer

Sarah Boyack (Edinburgh Central) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what research it funds into possible environmental causes of childhood cancer.

Mr Andy Kerr: The Childhood Cancer Research Group is funded by the Scottish Executive and the Department of Health and carries out epidemiological research in this area.

  The Scottish Executive also funds the Scottish Cancer Registry which carries out work on trends in childhood cancer and has contributed data to various international epidemiological studies.

  Research will also be carried out at the new leukaemia research laboratory to be built at Gartnavel Hospital which is jointly funded by NHS Greater Glasgow, the University of Glasgow and the Leukaemia Research Fund.

Digital Technology

Marlyn Glen (North East Scotland) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what information it has on the number and percentage of households with a domestic connection to the internet.

Tavish Scott: This information is available from the Scottish Household Survey website for which a link is provided http://www.scotland.gov.uk/library5/housing/shsar03-17.asp . The results for 2003 are currently available and a copy has been placed in the Parliament’s Reference Centre (Bib. number 33446). The survey results for 2004 will be published in August 2005.

Digital Technology

Marlyn Glen (North East Scotland) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what information it has on the number and percentage of households with a domestic connection to the internet, broken down by (a) local authority area and (b) electoral region.

Tavish Scott: The Scottish Household survey have provided information on domestic connection to the internet broken down by electoral region and this is presented in the following table. Information on domestic connection to the internet broken down by local authority is available from the same source identified in my answer to S2W-16601 answered on 31 May 2005.

  

Scottish Parliamentary Constituency
Percentage With Domestic Internet Access
Sample Size


Aberdeen Central
43
205


Aberdeen North
42
162


Aberdeen South
44
235


Airdrie and Shotts
35
220


Angus
41
205


Argyll and Bute
36
214


Ayr
39
229


Banff and Buchan
43
234


Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross
49
175


Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley
45
169


Central Fife
42
236


Clydebank and Milngavie
39
168


Clydesdale
34
263


Coatbridge and Chryston
32
155


Cumbernauld and Kilsyth
44
160


Cunninghame North
38
175


Cunninghame South
26
176


Dumbarton
43
162


Dumfries
36
198


Dundee East
27
199


Dundee West
25
236


Dunfermline East
35
192


Dunfermline West
56
213


East Kilbride
50
215


East Lothian
47
217


Eastwood
53
303


Edinburgh Central
48
213


Edinburgh East and Musselburgh
41
195


Edinburgh North and Leith
43
220


Edinburgh Pentlands
51
163


Edinburgh South
55
204


Edinburgh West
53
231


Falkirk East
46
195


Falkirk West
42
174


Galloway and Upper Nithsdale
41
222


Glasgow Anniesland
36
153


Glasgow Baillieston
24
179


Glasgow Cathcart
39
230


Glasgow Govan
38
166


Glasgow Kelvin
53
132


Glasgow Maryhill
23
135


Glasgow Pollok
29
144


Glasgow Rutherglen
27
70


Glasgow Shettleston
22
144


Glasgow Springburn
23
159


Gordon
55
199


Greenock and Inverclyde
43
200


Hamilton North and Bellshill
42
217


Hamilton South
39
160


Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber
50
192


Kilmarnock and Loudoun
35
225


Kirkcaldy
42
156


Linlithgow
41
197


Livingston
42
221


Midlothian
37
199


Moray
49
279


Motherwell and Wishaw
34
198


North East Fife
43
203


North Tayside
47
247


Ochil
49
347


Orkney Islands
44
327


Paisley North
29
179


Paisley South
36
182


Perth
40
180


Ross, Skye and Inverness West
45
192


Roxburgh and Berwickshire
46
179


Shetland Islands
46
312


Stirling
45
228


Strathkelvin and Bearsden
47
208


Tweeddale, Ettrick and Lauderdale
46
217


West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine
55
199


West Renfrewshire
57
166


Western Isles
39
307



  All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament/webapp/wa.search.

Digital Technology

Marlyn Glen (North East Scotland) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what information it has on the percentage of households with a domestic connection to the internet, broken down by socio-economic group.

Tavish Scott: This information, provided from the Scottish Household Survey, is contained in the following table.

  

By National Statistics Socio-Economic Classification of Highest Income Householder
Percentage with Access
Sample Size


Higher managerial and professional occupations
81
1,005


Lower managerial and professional occupations
70
2,858


Intermediate occupations
56
791


Small employers and sole traders
57
723


Lower supervisory and technical occupations
48
1,250


Semi-routine occupations
36
1,107


Routine occupations
34
1,199

Digital Technology

Marlyn Glen (North East Scotland) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what initiatives it is supporting to increase access to home computers and internet usage and what the extent has been of the take-up to date.

Tavish Scott: The Scottish Executive has been working to widen home access to computers through the development of a Home Computer Initiative for all eligible employees in the Scottish public sector. This includes employees of the Scottish Executive, local authorities, health boards, non-departmental public bodies, agencies and other public sector organisations.

  This scheme will make home computers available at a reduced cost and enable users to take up internet access. The scheme, which offers the opportunity to provide lower cost computers without any cost to the employer as a result of a tax exemption, is expected to launch in August 2005. The Scottish Executive encourages employers to consider offering such a scheme to their employees.

Economy

Alex Neil (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what action it is taking to improve the range and quality of statistics that it collects in relation to the performance of the economy.

Mr Jim Wallace: There is an on-going programme of quality improvement for economic statistics within the Executive. For example, there is a continuous development programme in place for the quarterly GDP index, and there are initiatives to further improve exports statistics. Work is underway on a project to harmonise data sources within the Scottish supply-and-use tables, and to enhance analytical capability by redesigning IT systems.

  The Executive is working with the Office for National Statistics to obtain better information on businesses in Scotland, which will have a positive impact on all the economic statistics we produce. The range of information produced from the analysis of business statistics is currently being reviewed, along with the potential for linking various datasets to investigate drivers of productivity.

  There are several planned improvements for Labour Market statistics. The Scottish Executive boost of the Labour Force Survey will provide better more detailed information over time and for local areas. Further analysis of economic inactivity will also take place. New figures on Public Sector employment are soon to be published, and the Executive will be publishing a Scottish-based strategy to take forward work arising from the Atkinson Review.

  An updated economic statistics plan for 2005-06 will soon be available on the Scottish Executive website.

Education

Michael Matheson (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive when the national development officer at Learning and Teaching Scotland will publish a report on outdoor education.

Peter Peacock: It will not be the role of the development officer to produce a report as such. The role will rather be one of identifying and disseminating good practice, and encouraging authorities to review and enhance provision. The development officer will communicate his findings from the mapping and auditing stage of the programme in a variety of ways including conferences, seminars and other appropriate engagement with the various stakeholders in this important area. It is expected that this mapping exercise be completed within one year of the officer being in post.

Education

Michael Matheson (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what its policy is in respect of outdoor education.

Peter Peacock: There is no existing detailed policy on outdoor education in Scotland. It is not a subject in itself, but provides a setting for delivery of some aspects of the curriculum such as personal and social development, environmental studies and the expressive arts. It also sits within the purposes of the 3-18 curriculum from A Curriculum for Excellence and our aspirations for all children and young person to become successful learners, confident individuals, responsible citizens and effective contributors.

  The development programme will inform the development of Scottish Executive policy on outdoor education and enable us to drive progress in this area.

Education

Michael Matheson (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many outdoor education centres there are and what the average waiting times are for accessing courses, broken down by local authority.

Peter Peacock: This information is not held centrally. Schools in Scotland currently offer a wide variety of outdoor education opportunities to pupils through a variety of local authority, voluntary, charitable and private providers.

Environment

Rosie Kane (Glasgow) (SSP): To ask the Scottish Executive what representations it had made to the UK Government in respect of the EU mercury export ban.

Lewis Macdonald: The Scottish Executive has on-going dialogue with the UK Government regarding the EU Mercury Strategy and the proposed mercury export ban, and has supplied a Scottish perspective to inform the UK Government line where appropriate.

Environment

Ms Rosemary Byrne (South of Scotland) (SSP): To ask the Scottish Executive what discussions it has had with Her Majesty’s Government regarding the regulation of pesticides by the Pesticide Safety Directorate and, in particular, the impact on biological alternative products of the directorate’s commitment to achieving full cost recovery from industry.

Ross Finnie: Officials from the Scottish Executive, Environment and Rural Affairs Department regularly discuss matters of pesticide regulation with their counterparts in the Pesticides Safety Directorate.

  Under the full cost recovery policy operated by the Pesticides Safety Directorate the fee charged for evaluating pesticides is directly related to the costs of the work in handling and evaluating the individual application in question. Under these arrangements the fee rates for biological control agents have already been set lower than for conventional pesticide applications and these fees will be reviewed in the light of the experience gained in evaluating such products in the Directorate’s pilot scheme to encourage the development and introduction of alternative control measures.

Environment

Ms Rosemary Byrne (South of Scotland) (SSP): To ask the Scottish Executive what discussions it has had with Her Majesty’s Government regarding the impact on biological alternative products of the Pesticide Safety Directorate’s requirement for a product to demonstrate a certain level of efficacy against a pest or disease.

Ross Finnie: The Scottish Executive has held no such discussions.

Environment

Mark Ballard (Lothians) (Green): To ask the Scottish Executive whether the issue of litter floating in watercourses is addressed in current environmental legislation.

Ross Finnie: Causing or knowingly permitting poisonous noxious or polluting matter to enter the water environment is an offence under the Control of Pollution Act 1974.

Environment

Mark Ballard (Lothians) (Green): To ask the Scottish Executive whether the Environmental Protection Act 1990 includes provision for responsibilities for litter floating in watercourses.

Mark Ballard (Lothians) (Green): To ask the Scottish Executive whether, if the Environmental Protection Act 1990 does not allocate clear responsibility for dealing with floating litter, it will use the new powers under subsection (6C) of section 89 of the Environmental Protection Act 1990, implemented through subsection (2) of section 57 of the Antisocial Behaviour etc. (Scotland) Act 2004, to impose specific responsibilities on the appropriate bodies to resolve the consistent problems associated with floating litter in the Leith docks area.

Ross Finnie: The Antisocial Behaviour etc. (Scotland) Act 2004, in amending section 89 of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 did not extend the scope of the provisions to deal specifically with litter from watercourses. Section 89(1) and (2) of the 1990 Act place general duties on certain bodies responsible for "relevant land" to clear it of litter so far as is practicable. "Relevant land" includes public open spaces, roads, railways, the grounds of educational institutions, Crown land, and other land which local authorities have designated as litter control areas. In discharging their duties, those bodies must have regard to a code of practice under the 1990 act. The 2004 act gave ministers the power only to supplement the existing code of practice with specific directions to those bodies as to how they perform their litter clearance duties, not to impose duties which were not in the 1990 act and the code of practice.

Equal Opportunities

Ms Sandra White (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what information it has on the number of "hits" the discrimination section of the Equal Opportunities Commission Scotland website has had in the last year.

Malcolm Chisholm: This is a matter for the Equal Opportunities Commission Scotland. The information is not held centrally.

Finance

Jim Mather (Highlands and Islands) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has read and considered the report adopted on 10 May 2005 by the European Parliament’s Temporary Committee on Policy Challenges and Budgetary Means of the Enlarged Union 2007-2013.

Mr Tom McCabe: Yes.

Finance

Jim Mather (Highlands and Islands) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what its view is on the report adopted on May 2005 by the European Parliament’s Temporary Committee on Policy Challenges and Budgetary Means of the Enlarged Union 2007-2013 and whether it considers that the Committee’s call for 0.41% of the European Union’s gross national income to be spent on cohesion policy within an overall budget expenditure limit of 1.07% will provide the necessary financial means to ensure the continuation of EU regional economic development funding in Scotland and, in particular, in the Highlands and Islands.

Mr Tom McCabe: The Executive continues to work closely with the UK Government to ensure that the current negotiations on the future of the Structural Funds and the EU Budget more generally deliver the best possible outcome for the whole of Scotland.

Fisheries

Eleanor Scott (Highlands and Islands) (Green): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will carry out a study of the economic importance of sea angling.

Ross Finnie: I refer the member to the answers to questions S2W-15296 and S2W-16556 on 12 April 2005 and 24 May 2005 respectively. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at: http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search .

General Practitioners

Mrs Nanette Milne (North East Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive, following the implementation of the new General Medical Services (GMS) contract, what the average GP earns in Scotland; how much of a rise in earnings there has been in the first year of the new GMS contract, and what percentage of GPs earns more than £100,000 per annum.

Mr Andy Kerr: Figures are not held centrally on GPs’ net earnings. GPs are independent contractors and information on net GP income is held by GP practices’ accountants.

  Information on gross payments to GP practices (income before expenses) can be accessed from the Practitioners Services Division of NHS National Services Scotland.

Health

Stewart Stevenson (Banff and Buchan) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many operations were cancelled in (a) 2003-04 and (b) 2004-05, broken down by NHS board area.

Mr Andy Kerr: The specific information requested is not available centrally.

  Information on cancelled admissions to hospital is collected but does not specifically identify cancelled operations prior to or during a hospital stay. Table 1 shows information on the number of cancellations made by hospitals prior to in-patient and day case admission for the years ending March 2004 and March 2005.

  Table 1: NHSiS – Cancellation of Planned Admissions for In-Patient or Day Case Treatment; By Health Board Area: Years Ending 31 March 2004-05

  

 
2004
2005P


Scotland
15,763
15,766


Argyll and Clyde
916
869


Ayrshire and Arran
243
496


Borders
261
339


Dumfries and Galloway1
421
421


Fife
1,188
1,245


Forth Valley
930
633


Grampian
1,902
1,717


Greater Glasgow1
3,446
3,022


Highland
1,283
1,558


Lanarkshire
1,492
1,986


Lothian
2,409
2,193


Orkney
15
22


Shetland
2
4


Tayside
1,185
1,191


Western Isles
70
70



  Source: ISD Scotland [Form ISD(S)1].

  PProvisional.

  Note: 1. Data for Dumfries and Galloway and the Southern General Hospital are not available for 2005. The 2004 data have been used as an estimate of the 2005 numbers.

  Planned admissions, for an operation or for any other reason, can be cancelled due to various unforeseen pressures. Some examples of these are; an influx of emergency admissions, widespread staff sickness, theatre equipment failure, infection in wards.

  On occasions, some patients may be sent home, following admission, when a planned procedure/operation has not been carried out. Some reasons for this include; patient being unfit for treatment due to illness (e.g. chest infection), having omitted to fast before admission, failing to follow pre-admission advice on medication or where theatre time is unavailable due to unexpected complications arising in earlier theatre cases.

Homelessness

Patrick Harvie (Glasgow) (Green): To ask the Scottish Executive what information it has collected, as part of its on-going work to create a directory of housing support services, on housing support providers across Scotland and the kinds of services they offer to homeless people.

Malcolm Chisholm: As explained in the answer to S2W-16652, answered 31 May 2005, work on the directory will not be complete until January 2006. However, the data collection exercise has revealed that there are about 1,350 providers responsible for 7,000 services nationally. Within this total, it is estimated that housing support services specifically for older people are delivered by around 200 providers through 2,100 services. The vast majority of these services for older people are accommodation-based, typically amenity, sheltered and extra care housing settings. Of the remaining services 19,092 people, who were homeless or sleeping rough, received housing support during 2003-04.

  All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search.

Housing

Richard Lochhead (North East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will list all studies into (a) housing design, (b) sustainable building techniques and (c) innovative housing that it funded in each of the last five years, showing the cost of each study.

Malcolm Chisholm: Research studies on these topics have been commissioned by Communities Scotland as follows:

  

Year Commissioned
Project Title
Project Cost


2000-01
Lessons From Innovation in Design and Procurement 
£21,463.08


2000-01
Evaluation of the Building Aspects of the Slateford Green (Millennium) Project
£7,000


2002-03 with a further update evaluation commissioned in 2004-05
Evaluation of Kincardine O’Neil innovative rural housing design project: Canmore Place
£10,000


2002-03
Future Options for Mixed Tenure and RSL Property in Edinburgh’s Pre-1919 Tenements
Total Contract £31,960, Communities Scotland contribution£19,975


2004-05
Research in phase 1 of the Devanah bulk procurement initiative
£20,678


2004-05
Options for the Provision of Social Rented Housing in Rural Tayside Designed to Meet Changing Household Needs
£4,995.75


2004-05
Smart Technology – Preferred Design Guide
£7,343.75


2004-05
Designing Urban Housing
Total Contract Cost £29,369.13, Communities Scotland contribution £18,369.12


2004-05
The Unplugged House: Identifying the Issues and a Methodology for their Investigation
£1,000


2005-06 
Evaluation of tenants experiences of living in innovative Dutch style housing in Ballater
£31,079



  In addition, the following work has been commissioned by the Scottish Executive Environment and Rural Affairs Department:

  

Year Commissioned
Project Title
Project Cost


2000
Scottish House: New Build Home/Works Units
£5,150


2000
Scottish House: A review of recent experience in building individual and small groups of houses with a view to sustainability, the use of traditional and new materials and innovative design 
£6,084


2001
Timber Cladding in Scotland: Historical Precedents and Innovative Future Use
£6,000


2000-01
Building with earth in Scotland: Innovative Design and Sustainability
£5,960

Housing

Patrick Harvie (Glasgow) (Green): To ask the Scottish Executive what progress has been made on the creation of a directory of housing support services and when the final directory will be available.

Malcolm Chisholm: Following independent research, commissioned by the Executive in April 2003, on methodologies for data collection and also a pilot study, completed in April 2004, the Executive commissioned EAC to collect the necessary information and create a full database to support the directory. This work will be completed by October 2005, and the directory published in paper and web based format by January 2006.

Industry

Murdo Fraser (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how many jobs there have been in the manufacturing sector in each year since 1990.

Mr Jim Wallace: Table 1 shows the number of employee jobs in the manufacturing sector in each year from 1990 to 2004.

  These estimates are sourced from the quarterly employee jobs series. The table shows data for December each year to ensure comparability.

  Table 1 Manufacturing1 Employee Jobs, Scotland

  

Year
Employee Jobs


Dec 1990
378,500


Dec 1991
354,400


Dec 1992
326,700


Dec 1993
320,100


Dec 1994
320,500


Dec 1995
321,100


Dec 1996
305,300


Dec 1997
335,100


Dec 1998
326,600


Dec 1999
314,200


Dec 2000
303,100


Dec 2001
284,900


Dec 2002
262,900


Dec 2003
241,400


Dec 2004
236,700



  Source: Quarterly Employee Jobs, Office for National Statistics

  Notes:

  1. Manufacturing is defined as Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) 1992 codes 15 to 37.

  2. The data are rounded to the nearest hundred.

  3. The data are not seasonally adjusted.

Industry

Murdo Fraser (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what the contribution of the manufacturing sector to gross domestic product has been in each year since 1990, shown in cash and percentage terms.

Mr Jim Wallace: The following table details the value and percentage share of manufacturing sector gross value added (GVA) (also referred to as gross domestic product at basic prices) between 1990 and 2002.

  Table 1: Scottish Manufacturing Sector GVA: 1990-2002

  

Year
Cash (£ Millions)
Percentage Share


1990
9,651
22.5%


1991
9,378
20.7%


1992
9,559
20.1%


1993
10,073
20.2%


1994
11,112
21.0%


1995
12,045
21.7%


1996
12,665
21.8%


1997
13,310
21.9%


1998
13,191
20.8%


1999
13,027
19.9%


2000
12,711
18.8%


2001
12,359
17.5%


2002
11,937
16.1%



  Source: Office for National Statistics: Regional Accounts.

Justice

Stewart Stevenson (Banff and Buchan) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many police officers have taken early retirement in each of the last five years, broken down by police force area.

Stewart Stevenson (Banff and Buchan) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many serving police officers have been (a) arrested and (b) convicted of crimes in each year since 1997, broken down by police force area.

Cathy Jamieson: This information is not held centrally.

Medical Research

Shona Robison (Dundee East) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to support clinicians in establishing and conducting clinical trials under the Medicines for Human Use (Clinical Trials) Regulations 2004.

Rhona Brankin: The Chief Scientist Office of the Scottish Executive has taken a number of steps to support clinicians in this area. It has funded two conferences within the past year to allow clinical researchers to discuss the new regulatory requirements with the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency, participated in a joint project between the Health Department in England and the Medical Research Council to develop a website of practical help to assist researchers with the new requirements ( www.ct-toolkit.ac.uk ) and is currently discussing with NHS research and development officials the possible investment of new funds to provide dedicated professional support in trials design and management.

NHS Waiting Times

Stewart Stevenson (Banff and Buchan) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many patients were waiting for elective in-patient admission (a) in total, (b) for less than three months, (c) for three to five months, (d) for six to eight months and (e) for nine to 11 months and what the median waiting time in months was (i) in June 1999 and (ii) at the most recent date for which figures are available.

Mr Andy Kerr: The information requested on patients waiting for elective in-patient and day case admission is shown in table 1. The table excludes patients with an Availability Status Code (ASC) who were recorded as unavailable for treatment due, for example, to having failed to attend or being clinically unfit for treatment.

  Table 1

  

 
as at 30/6/99
as at 31/12/04


Total on Waiting List (excluding ASCs)
73,059
80,630


Number Waiting: less than 3 months 
50,555
53,823


Number Waiting: over 3 months and less than 6
14,492
20,831


Number Waiting: over 6 months and less than 9
5,830
5,975


Number Waiting: over 9 months and less than 12
2,168
1


Number Waiting: over 12 months
14
0



  Data Source : SMR03 (quarterly waiting times census)

  Table 2 presents the median waiting times for patients recorded as available for treatment for year ending December 2004, and the median for all patients (including those with an ASC) for both year ending June 1999 and year ending December 2004.

  Table 2

  

 
Year Ended 30/6/99
Year Ended 31/12/04


Median wait in months for patients treated, (excluding those not available for treatment – i.e. without an ASC)
N/A
1.2


Median wait in months for patients treated (including those not available for treatment – i.e. with an ASC)
1
1.4



  Data Source : SMR01

  The rise in median wait recorded between June 1999 and December 2004 is to be expected due to the emphasis on treating those patients who have been waiting longest. The fall in the number of long waiters is demonstrated clearly in table 1. The nine month maximum wait was met at end 2003 and very few patients have breached this since then. The six month maximum wait is to be achieved by end 2005.

Non-Domestic Rates

Jim Mather (Highlands and Islands) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many businesses there have been in each year since 1993 with a rateable value for non-domestic rate purposes of (a) less than £3,000, (b) £3,000 or above but under £4,000, (c) £4,000 or above but under £5,000, (d) £5,000 or above but under £6,000, (e) £6,000 or above but under £7,000 and (f) £7,000 and above.

Mr Tom McCabe: Data on the number of non-domestic subjects, broken down by rateable value is only held centrally for the years 2000, 2002 and 2005. The following table gives the number of subjects in Scotland, in each rateable value band, for each of these three years.

  

Rateable Value
Number of Subjects


April 2000
April 2002
April 2005


£1 to £2,999
71,977
72,966
64,909


£3,000 to £3,999
15,688
15,779
15,355


£4,000 to £4,999
12,816
12,759
13,121


£5,000 to £5,999
10,394
10,512
10,367


£6,000 to £6,999
8,293
8,338
8,572


£7,000 and over
77,564
78,618
84,446



  Sources: Valuation Rolls supplied to the Scottish Executive at the time of revaluation (2000, 2005) and special data collection exercise (2002). Excludes subjects with zero rateable value

  The large decrease in the number of subjects with a rateable value of £1 to £2,999 in April 2005 and the corresponding large increase in the number of subjects with a rateable value of £7,000 or more is a result of the 2005 Revaluation, when on average rateable values in Scotland rose by 13.3%.

Non-Domestic Rates

Jim Mather (Highlands and Islands) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the revenues from non-domestic rates have been in (a) cash and (b) real terms in each year since 1993, broken down by rateable values of (a) less than £3,000, (b) £3,000 or above but under £4,000, (c) £4,000 or above but under £5,000, (d) £5,000 or above but under £6,000, (e) £6,000 or above but under £7,000 and (f) £7,000 and above.

Mr Tom McCabe: The information requested is not held centrally.

Nuclear Power

Richard Lochhead (North East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive to what extent the provisions of the Environmental Assessment (Scotland) Bill will apply to the building of new nuclear power stations and associated facilities.

Ross Finnie: Individual consideration must be given to each plan, programme or strategy before the Responsible Authority can determine whether the bill will apply to it. Whilst emphasising that case by case approach I can make the following general points:

  Plans, programmes and strategies which relate solely to the whole or any part of Scotland and deal with nuclear power stations and associated facilities are not exempted.

  Qualifying plans, programmes and strategies which could (depending on the outcome of the screening procedure) fall within the provisions of the bill, include those prepared for energy which set the framework for future development consent of nuclear power stations and other installations referred to in paragraphs 2(2) and 3 of schedule 1 to the bill.

  Any qualifying plan, programme or strategy which has been determined by a Responsible Authority, after screening, to be likely to have a significant environmental effect, will require to comply fully with part 2 (environmental reports and consultation) and part 3 (post –adoption procedures) of the bill.

Prison Service

Ms Sandra White (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how much funding, excluding staff costs, has been invested in rehabilitation programmes for (a) female and (b) male prisoners in each year since 1999.

Cathy Jamieson: I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:

  The information is not available.

  Nearly all costs associated with rehabilitation programmes are staff.

Prison Service

Ms Sandra White (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what percentage of the total (a) female and (b) male prison population has been recorded as having an alcohol problem in each year since 1999.

Cathy Jamieson: I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:

  The information requested is not collected.

Prison Service

Ms Sandra White (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what percentage of the total (a) female and (b) male prison population has been recorded as having a drug addiction problem in each year since 1999.

Cathy Jamieson: I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:

  The information sought is not available but the table, based on samples, gives the percentage of prisoners testing positive for drug use on reception into prison, during prison sentence, and those prisoners who have presented with a substance misuse issue (drugs and alcohol). The data is not collated by gender.

  

 
%


1999-2000
2000-01
2001-02
2002-03


Positive at Reception
75
77
75
66


Positive Mandatory Drug Test 
22
21
22
23


Percentage of Addiction Presentations
N/A
61
67
73

Prison Service

Alex Neil (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it gave prior written approval of the training given by instructors to new employees shown in the BBC documentary on HM Prison Kilmarnock, broadcast on 9 March 2005.

Cathy Jamieson: I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:

  I refer the member to Schedule D of the contract with Premier Prison Services, which can be found at http://www.sps.gov.uk/keydocs/kilmarnock.

Public Appointments

Richard Lochhead (North East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what its position is on the statement made by its spokesperson in Scotland on Sunday on 27 March 2005, when referring to the head of office and First Secretary for Scottish Affairs in Washington DC that she "has been in the post for four years. That is the standard length for a post of this nature. There is nothing unusual in the way that this has been handled".

Mr Tom McCabe: The post was advertised as lasting two years with the possibility of an extension taking it to four years in total. The assignment offer was made to the present post holder on that basis. The extension was invoked and the officer will leave the post at the end of the four year assignment on 31 October 2005.

Racism

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-1579 by Cathy Jamieson on 10 May 2005, how the figure of 125 recorded incidents of racism in 2003-04 was calculated when figures produced by Grampian Police for 2004, and available in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre, show that there were 472 recorded incidents of racism.

Cathy Jamieson: The figure of 125 racist incidents in Grampian in 2003-04 was provided to HM Inspectorate of Constabulary by Grampian Police. The Scottish Executive is not responsible for information provided to Parliament’s Reference Centre by third parties.

Rail Services

Mr David Davidson (North East Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what the target date is for reopening the railway station at Laurencekirk.

Nicol Stephen: Subject to completion of the engineering study currently underway, which will look at the cost of reopening the station, and to funding being available, Aberdeenshire Council is hopeful that Laurencekirk Station could be operational by the end of 2007.

Rail Services

Mr David Davidson (North East Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to construct a direct link from Dyce railway station into Aberdeen Airport.

Nicol Stephen: As part of the longer term proposals for Aberdeen Crossrail, the North East Scotland Transport Partnership (NESTRANS) will consider the possibility of a direct link from Dyce Railway station into Aberdeen Airport.

Rail Services

Mr David Davidson (North East Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to increase car parking facilities at Stonehaven and Portlethen stations as part of the Aberdeen Crossrail project.

Nicol Stephen: Car parking provision at Stonehaven and Portlethan railway stations is a matter for the relevant local authority and First ScotRail. The Scottish Executive is not aware of any current proposals to increase car parking at either Stonehaven or Portlethan.

Rail Services

Mr David Davidson (North East Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how much funding it is committed to contributing to Laurencekirk Station.

Nicol Stephen: In 2004, the Scottish Executive funded 50% of the £30,000 cost of undertaking a STAG2 study into the potential reopening of Laurencekirk Station. In addition to this, the Executive has agreed to fund 80% of the estimated £220,000 cost of undertaking an engineering study, which will look at the operational and infrastructural requirements and costs of reopening the station. This is currently being taken forward by Aberdeenshire Council.

Roads

Mr David Davidson (North East Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive when a decision will be made on the route of the Aberdeen Western Peripheral Route.

Nicol Stephen: Responses to the public consultation are being considered and I hope a decision can be made later this year.

Roads

Mr David Davidson (North East Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive why the two routes to the west of Peterculter were included as options for the Aberdeen Western Peripheral Route.

Nicol Stephen: These were included following representations from the public and interested parties.

Roads

Mr David Davidson (North East Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has sought to negotiate a purchase of the Camphill Trust estate at Myrtle for a sum sufficient to allow for total relocation of the community to a new facility or whether it will use compulsory purchase to achieve this objective.

Nicol Stephen: It is too early to negotiate such a purchase. This would only be considered, if appropriate, once a decision on the route had been made.

Roads

Mr David Davidson (North East Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will confirm the statement by the former Minister for Transport, Lewis Macdonald, that the southern route of the Aberdeen Western Peripheral Route has been rescinded and, if so, what the reasons are for this action.

Nicol Stephen: No decision has been made by the Scottish Executive on the southern leg of the route, and therefore there is nothing to rescind.

Roads

Mr David Davidson (North East Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive when the positions of all junctions on the Aberdeen Western Peripheral Route will be confirmed.

Nicol Stephen: The final positions of all junctions on the Aberdeen Western Peripheral Route will be confirmed when the decision on the route has been taken.

Roads

Mr David Davidson (North East Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what the target date is for completion of the Aberdeen Western Peripheral Route.

Nicol Stephen: If the current preferred corridor through the Murtle Estate is chosen the target completion date would, subject to the satisfactory completion of statutory procedures, be late 2010. If one of the other four alternative route options currently being consulted on were to be chosen then the target date would be extended by a further year.

School Transport

Mr David Davidson (North East Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to introduce supervisors on school transport to ensure that drivers are not distracted and that good order is maintained.

Peter Peacock: It is for education authorities to determine local approaches to staffing on school transport. The Scottish Executive has made available £34.9 million over the next three years for additional support staff to support schools to tackle indiscipline. Education authorities may allocate these staff according to where they believe there is greatest need. This may include supervision on school transport if authorities believe this is a priority.

School Transport

Mr David Davidson (North East Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what discussions it has had with head teachers with regard to disruptive behaviour by pupils travelling on school transport.

Peter Peacock: The Scottish Executive maintains an on-going dialogue with head teacher associations through a wide range of events including "Roundtable" discussions on promoting positive behaviour. Head teachers have not raised specific concerns with regard to pupil behaviour on school transport.

Scottish Executive Staff

Stewart Stevenson (Banff and Buchan) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-15946 by Mr Tom McCabe on 11 May 2005, what the cost of overtime payments was for the 67 ministerial staff, broken down by (a) grade and (b) Executive department in each year since 1999.

Mr Tom McCabe: Any further breakdown of this information would amount to unwarranted disclosure of personal information and is therefore exempt under 38 (1) (b) of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002.

Scottish Executive Websites

Ms Sandra White (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to improve the search facility on its official website to provide greater access to public information.

Mr Tom McCabe: Keyword searches are regularly analysed to determine the importance of content which can then be promoted as current and relevant search returns. The Executive also plans to improve the search facility on the corporate website by offering more refined searches within specific areas

  The full adoption of a new content management system this summer with comprehensive metadata across the site will allow the return of ‘suggested pages’ to complement actual search results.

  Within the official publications section, the search facility is currently limited to the publication title only but a new way of indexing publications will allow it to cover metadata fields and content as well.

Voluntary Sector

Linda Fabiani (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive when the voluntary sector strategic funding review action plan will be published.

Malcolm Chisholm: In partnership with the Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations (SCVO) and the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities (COSLA), the Scottish Executive is currently working up a detailed action plan to implement the principles identified in the Strategic Funding Review Joint Statement, which was published last week. The action plan will be published in the summer. Further information about the review can be found at http://www.scotland.gov.uk/viu .

Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body

Scottish Parliament Recycling

Murdo Fraser (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con): To ask the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body how many cubic metres of paper waste have been collected from the paper recycling bins throughout the Parliament’s buildings in each year since the Parliament’s establishment.

John Scott (Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body): In 2004-05, the Parliament recycled approximately five tonnes of paper per month increasing from just less than four tonnes per month in 2003-04. Paper includes office paper, newspaper, magazines and pamphlets. Reliable data prior to this date is unavailable.